Albania minorities object to territorial division

Albania minorities object to territorial division

Civil society groups in Albania call for a referendum on reversing the country's new territorial reorganisation to diffuse ethnic tensions.

The Macedonian minority representatives in Albania meet at Pustec municipality. [Courtesy of Municipality of Pustec]

Albania's civil society is calling on officials to diffuse tensions and protect minorities from discrimination and potential violence as a result of the decision to scrap the existing municipalities and create a new territorial administration.

The government reduced the 384 local government units to 65, effectively creating entirely Albanian-majority municipalities.

Greek, Macedonian and other minority representatives said the government's move violates their rights and international norms.

"The territorial reform runs contrary to the spirit of the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and it constitutes a flagrant violation of the accepted European standards," Vangjel Dule, leader of the Union for Human Rights Party in Tirana, told SETimes.

The new territorial division creates dangerous conditions that may result in social conflicts and ethnic confrontations, said Stavri Marko, representative of the Komuniteti Himarjot in the formerly Greek-majority Himara municipality.

"It harms the wealth and the properties of Himara municipality," Marko told SETimes.

Minority representatives said the move is in violation of the constitution, as public schools in minority languages will be closed and they will lose other fundamental rights, even the right to self-identify.

"These are rights guaranteed by the constitution and the latter must be implemented," Marko said.

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